Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition [PlayStation 5] | REVIEW

Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition is a chance to revisit one of Obsidian Entertainment’s most notable CRPGs, and one that, despite being flawed, I had a lot of fun playing back in the day. Unfortunately, while the package brings together a wealth of content and some flashes of greatness, its dated design, minimal improvements, and lingering flaws make it hard to fully recommend in 2025.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The original release of Neverwinter Nights 2 back in 2006 was a massive RPG built on the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 ruleset, and that remains one of the core appeals today. Players create a custom character from a deep set of races and classes and set off from the village of West Harbor on an adventure that soon leads to the city of Neverwinter and a larger conflict involving the mysterious King of Shadows. It’s a classic D&D premise with plenty of scope for role-playing, dialogue choices, and party management, and when combined with the three included expansions – Mask of the Betrayer, Storm of Zehir, and Mysteries of Westgate – this Enhanced Edition offers hundreds of hours of content.

Having everything in one package really does give the release real value, whilst the Enhanced Edition also offers other improvements across the board. Admittedly, the biggest upgrades are mostly about accessibility rather than overhauling the experience: native controller support with a controller-tailored UI makes the game genuinely playable on the PlayStation 5, while the re-implemented cross-play online multiplayer lets friends team up again fuss-free. The visuals get a light touch-up with higher resolutions and upscaled textures, the overall performance is significantly smoother across the board, and some longstanding rough edges from the 2006 release have been fixed. It’s clear that some improvement have been made to ensure this is arguably the best way to experience Neverwinter Nights 2.

Unfortunately, the years have not been kind to the underlying experience. Whilst the Enhanced Edition adds support for higher resolutions and a smoother framerate, the visual improvements are minimal. Character models, environments, and effects still look basic and flat by modern standards (particularly after coming from another recent playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3), with the overall presentation failing to match modern CRPGs. Even the newly designed controller-focused interface feels somewhat clunky, and whilst navigating the various menus and inventory screens on a DualSense controller works, it never feels truly natural, reminding you constantly that this was a game originally built for mouse and keyboard.

“Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition is a package best suited for longtime fans or those eager to revisit a once-great CRPG with all of its content in one place.”

Beyond the control issues, many of the original game’s weaknesses persist. The camera remains awkward and overly sensitive, often requiring adjustment just to maintain a clear view, whilst loading times feel longer than they should be given the PlayStation 5 hardware, which disrupts the flow of exploration. Small but frustrating bugs, such as characters getting stuck on the environment or occasional crashes, are also present – whilst Aspyr has certainly ironed out some of the issues from the original 2006 release, it still could have done with a little bit more polish.

Some of the design choices across the gameplay feel really dated now too. Quest objectives can be vague and leave players pondering what they need to do, and the lack of modern quality-of-life features like detailed quest markers or streamlined inventory management make the game feel more cumbersome than it should. At times, players are forced into long, drawn-out sequences without much direction at all… combine this with the game’s general slow pacing and it’ll be easy to find your patience tested on the regular.

Still, whilst it’s clearly a bit of a dated experience, Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition still has a lot to like. The branching dialogue options and morality system, while not especially deep by today’s standards, do give players plenty of room to shape their journey in varying ways. Characters (both friend and foe) on the adventure are incredibly well-written, and some of the questlines still hold up as some of Obsidian’s finest work. Combat remains tactical and rewarding too, with some genuinely tantalising battle scenarios to face that’ll really put your CRPG tactical prowess to the test.

Check out some screenshots down below:

But ultimately? Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition is a game that feels stuck between eras. It’s large and ambitious, and the inclusion of all expansions makes this the definitive version from a content perspective. But the limited visual upgrades, persistent bugs, and antiquated design mean it struggles to compete with modern heavyweights in the genre. Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 have shown just how far narrative-driven CRPGs have come, and you know what? It just makes Neverwinter Nights 2 feel even more like a relic, even if some elements of my re-visiting of the adventure have been enjoyable.

Developer: Aspyr, Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Aspyr
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC
Website: https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/product/UP1032-PPSA20783_00-NWN2ENHANCED0000